Bakura x3
by Love Alchemist
Summary: Shounen ai to light yaoi. Ryou thought he would be able to have a normal life after the Sennen Items were gone after the ceremonial battle between Yuugi and Atemu. But apparently not so; It seems the Ring is back... and what are those dreams?
1. 1 Move: Adapting to Reality

Disclaimer; I don't own the wonderful manga/anime Yu-Gi-Oh! And neither do I claim anything in relation to that show.

Pairing; Thief King Ba-khu-ra/Bakura/Ryou

A/N; Anyone knows what that pairing has for name? I know I've seen a list somewhere, but I just can't find any link/too late tonight for me to actually collect my ass enough to try to find it.

Right, to those of you waiting for the sequel to Sea of Stars, it IS in the works... but it just isn't really coming out as I want it to. Hopefully I will get it out, but... /shrug/

Anyway, I hope you will like this little thing; I'm already quite fond of it. Righty! Enough of my babbling; here is the first chapter! (hopefully others will come out quickly) The thing with the names between Bakura and Ba-khu-ra will probably be slightly confusing, but I hope it will be possible to keep them separate.

_/Thoughts/_

_:Ryou to Bakura and Ba-khu-ra:_**  
**_:Bakura and Ba-khu-ra to Ryou:_

* * *

Phase 1: Adapting to Reality 

Sleeping in had always been something Ryou had favored. Not that he'd had many possibilities to do so since he'd gotten the Ring, but now it was all over. Well... that was how it was _supposed_ to be.

The Ring had appeared yesterday night, a few hours after they'd all gotten home from Egypt. Soft glow around his neck and over his chest, it had slowly materialised until it was as real as Ryou had wished it wasn't.

He hadn't scourged up enough courage to go tell Yuugi-kun yet. But really, what could his multihued haired classmate do? He didn't have the Puzzle any longer, and while he had grown a lot mentally since Ryou had first met him, Yuugi-kun didn't really possess any special talents that could solve this.

Seemed the Ring was fond of him. Making a grimace at the white-washed ceiling at that thought the white haired young man groaned and rolled over, hiding his head under a pillow. What now? Bakura hadn't appeared yet, so maybe... maybe he didn't inhabit the Ring anymore, and it somehow had just appeared anyway.

_/Wishful thinking. It's _never_ that easy./_

Yawning, Ryou stumbled out of his room and into the kitchen, still only his black pair of pajama bottoms, and turned on the coffee machine on autopilot, not really thinking yet. Turning around to lean against the kitchen bench, he stretched lazily before braving the summer morning bright room again. And blinked. Stared. And quickly turned around.

_/I did _not_ see that. My imagination. Early morning hallucinations. Impossible. No, nope and absolutely not. I did not open my eyes just now and saw _that_. Pre-coffee. Yes, that's it./_

Pouring his favorite mug (large and black with a pentagram in white on it) full of coffee, he turned around, eyes closed and didn't open them before he'd almost emptied the mug and almost burned his tongue off in the process. They were still there. Taking a deep breath and releasing it in a huge sigh, Ryou decided it was better to face your ghosts (so to speak) face to face.

"Okay... can someone tell me why I'm seeing two of... well, me, and not one?"

The two Bakuras sitting by the table scowled at him simultaneously, and if this wasn't so frustrating, it would have been funny. To the left, the version he was most used to sat, arms crossed and clothed in the usual striped t-shirt, leather pants and the black trench coat draped over the chair beside him.

His yami.

To the right sat another version he hadn't seen before, but Yuugi-kun had described the Bakura they'd met in the Memoryworld, and by that description he assumed this was his former incarnation and what his yami had looked when alive. Red robe, wild mop of white hair, dark skin, and lots of muscles, Ba-khu-ra made an impressive picture where he sat sprawled in the chair, light spilling all around him.

Ryou was tiring of the silence.

"Well? I'm waiting for an answer." He said impatiently, and finally one of the two seemed inclined to give him one. The dark-skinned tomb robber shrugged his shoulders with a bored expression on his face, examining the gold rings on one of his hands.

"We don't know. Something happened when the Pharaoh returned to the afterlife, and somehow we turned out this way." his voice was deeper than Bakura's, but Ryou supposed that was only natural; Bakura shared his body, and Ryou's voice was not the deepest out there, while Ba-khu-ra was a much larger man, and apparently had had the vocal cords to go with his impressive frame.

"No, you don't say. I couldn't have figured out something unusual had happened." Ryou spat out sarcastically, and then froze, his blue eyes darting between the two others to see from where the reprimand would come. Bakura had a lopsided smirk on his lips as he leaned back in the chair but made no other move.

"Always had a nasty mouth on you, omote. You should learn to control it." He drawled out and glanced over at his dark-skinned self. The tomb robber was picking his nails with a knife, head bowed down so his grin was almost hidden by his wild hair.

"Wouldn't it be almost required? He doesn't seem to have retained much of us, but we always had a foul mouth." Ba-khu-ra said nonchalantly. Ryou could feel a headache forming.

* * *

When midday rolled around, Ryou was ready to start tearing his hair out. With a frustrated growl he grabbed his wallet and headed out to buy some groceries.

Besides from having been separated into two, the Bakuras had gained bodies of their own, but could, they said off-handedly, retreat to the Ring if needed. Not that they were going to do so when they didn't see the need.

So now he had to not only share an apartment with his yami and the tomb robber, but also keep them fed! He was just lucky his father always had supplied more money each month than he ever had needed, so the increase in outcome would probably not be noticed by his wallet.

With a sigh Ryou shook his head and walked into the store unhappily. Now he'd have to get steak. If he didn't he was quite sure none of them would be as amiable as they had been since they'd appeared that morning. At least his yami (this was beginning to get confusing, weren't both his 'yamis' now? Headache, headache, better not think about it) would, and he doubted Ba-khu-ra was any different since they practically was, well, the same person.

"Oi, Bakura!"

Looking up, Ryou spotted the familiar mop of golden hair that went with that voice and he smiled when Katsuya-kun came up to him, Yuugi a half-step behind him.

"Hi, Bakura-kun!"

"Jounouchi-kun, Yuugi-kun. Nice to meet you." He said, feeling both happier than before and nervous. He was sure they'd be able to tell what had happened, that he had the Ring back, that his yami was back, that his freaking _incarnation_ had appeared.

But why would they?

Neither Bakura nor Ba-khu-ra was around, and the Ring was hidden under his tank top. While they would be able to tell he was wearing _some_thing, they wouldn't know what, and wouldn't have any reason to believe it was the Ring. All that was over after all, so there was no reason to suspect anything.

"Out shopping? Need some help?" Yuugi asked brightly, bouncing on the balls of his feet.While he had grown a lot mentally, his personality was still as bright as it always had been. Ryou almost panicked at Yuugi's offer. If they helped they would become suspicious, since he would be buying a lot more than one person needed, he just knew it.

"Ah, I... eh. No thank you, Yuugi-kun. No need. I don't need much, so I won't need any help or anything, but thanks for offering." Ryou forced a unconcerned smile and breathed a sigh of relief when Yuugi nodded, seemingly not suspicious nor shot-down by Ryou's decline of his offer.

"Okay. Will you come to the arcade later? Maybe go for a pizza?" Yuugi looked so earnest that Ryou laughed, the tension in his gut that had been present since late this morning disappearing like snow before the spring sun, and nodded.

"Absolutely. At five?"

His two friends nodded and waved as they walked off, eagerly talking about new magicwizards cards and strategies, planning their participation in an upcoming tournament. Ryou collapsed against the cold meat disk with a sigh of relief. They hadn't noticed anything. Now, shopping.

* * *

Closing the door with his foot Ryou walked into the kitchen, passing the living room where his two yamis were watching TV, making mocking commentary. While Ba-khu-ra wasn't used to the thechnology, he'd probably been updated on present-day's all little wonders and was already adapting.

A thief needed to blend into his surroundings after all.

"Oi, Ryou. Did you buy any steak?" Bakura asked, not looking away from the screen. The taller and darker man beside him perked up visibly, or rather, visibly to Ryou's trained eye, at the mention of meat.

"What am I, your housekeeper?" He asked irritated, but stopped at the warning growl from the sofa. Cursing himself for not being able to stand up to his yami he sighed.

"Yes, Bakura, I did buy steak. I have some instincts of self-preservation you know." With a growl he stalked out into the kitchen, but calmed down enough to carefully place all that he bought at its right place without anything breaking or being manhandled. With a sigh he leaned back against the bench, much like earlier that day and dragged a hand over his face.

This would not be easy. He'd actually had some hopes to get a more 'normal' life back when the Sennen Items fell down into the darkness below the tomb. But that was apparently not to be and he would just have to suck it up as he had done many times before.

At least now he wouldn't find himself with random cuts on his body, placed there by a yami thinking this was an effective way of showing his "loyalty". Shaking his head he turned back to the sink, deciding to start on his two yamis' dinner since he was going out and didn't want to have to break early just because he had to whiny babies at home, screaming to be fed.

_:We heard that:_ The twinned voice thundered down the mental link, but it was more overwhelming and humorous, than it had been a painful reprimand. It seemed that both versions of Bakura were much saner now that there was no Zork to influence them.

Not that Ryou was stupid enough to believe they were anywhere close to mentally stable, because that would just be stupid. But there would probably not be any random sprees of mental and/or physical torture afflicted on an unsuspecting population or his friends (other than himself of course), and that was enough for the blue-eyed boy.

Putting the last of the dinner into the fridge he dusted off his hands, feeling accomplished. He didn't much like cooking actually, but he _was_ good at it, and that was probably for the best. He didn't want to throw money on take-out just because his food wasn't _good __enough_ for the yamis. There may be money, but not an endless supply of it. Going into his room he changed into something less sweat-saturated and stopped in the doorway between the hall and the living room.

"I'm going out with Yuugi-tachi, dinner's in the fridge."

The answer he got wasn't very stimulating; two separate grunts, which didn't tell him if they even had heard what he'd said, but Ryou figured it didn't matter. He'd informed them, his duty was done.

With a shrug he got to the door, put on his shoes and got his jacket, so if it got colder later that night, he wouldn't freeze, and was ready to have some, normal, unrelated to the Sennen Items or any other kinds of magic or mayhem, fun with his friends.

* * *

Opening the door, the albino almost bounced in, giggling slightly due to all the soda he'd drunk that night and the general fun. He had almost forgotten all about reappearing Rings and double sets of yamis, only thinking on it long enough to close down their link on his end. He didn't want to hear any complaining from over there in all evening.

Closing the door silently, he came as far as a step up from the area where you left the shoes before he was slammed back against the wall, two bodies pressing him into the plaster and making him stay in place.

"Where the fuck do you think you've been!" Breath hot against his ear, the angry hiss vibrated in the air, Bakura's voice grating. Ryou's mood soured immediately. But instead of doing what would have been smart, that would say; excuse himself and be sweet he hissed back, instantly angry.

"Out. I said so. Or didn't you listen?" His moment of bravery was not cheaply bought however as one of Ba-khu-ra's hands painfully tightened around his upper arm.

"You said you were going out, but then you closed the link and didn't even call later. We won't tolerate such behavior! You will tell us when you'll get home or you won't be going out at all!" It was clear both yamis were livid; Bakura's nails were digging into his shoulder, while the tomb robber most likely was leaving bruises.

First Ryou almost exploded.

They couldn't tell him when and where to go! But just before he was to open his mouth and make things worse, Ba-khu-ra's words registered in his burning brain. He instantly deflated, relaxing back against the wall. The two Bakuras, sensing victory, eased up on their punishing grips.

"I'm sorry. Okay? Next time I won't keep the link closed all evening, or at least tell you beforehand how long I think I'll be gone. You were worried?" The last was almost whispered in a small voice, Ryou staring intently at the ground, his bangs falling messily over his face and hiding it.

The silence stretched, and Ryou thought they were simply not going to answer, which was what he had been expecting. But then there was a brush along the link, apparently the two Bakuras were talking privately, before they stepped away from him.

_:Yes:_ That simple word, no more than whispered in the recesses of their shared mind, made Ryou's eyes widen. Something swelled.

Bakura alone would never had admitted to something like that before, and actually being _missed_, having someone that _would_ miss him and get angry if he didn't keep them informed about his whereabouts made him feel better in so many ways he couldn't say.

Now bouncing through the apartment and into his room, he resolutely ignored his aching shoulder and upper arm, undressed and collapsed into bed. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

* * *

My, my. Poor Ryou's having troubles, isn't he? Hope you liked! XD I hope any slight OOC can be explained away by my explanation... I'm not _that_ good at doing Bakura/the tomb robber... Have pity on me! 


	2. 2 Move: Dreams Aren't All They're Cracke

Disclaimer; As mentioned before, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

I'm really, really sorry for the long wait, but this just _wouldn't_ cooperate with me! Finally I managed to get this out, and I think it's quite good. Wish it was longer though, but unfortunately it didn't want to get longer… Hope you can forgive the long wait!

To all my reviewers! THANK YOU! I love you all!  
I didn't think this would be as popular as it seems to be, and that made me feel even more bad when I couldn't get anything out!

A few notes; Someone mentioned that Ryou says "two of me, instead of one" and thinks he should be saying "three". Maybe so, but Ryou isn't counting himself in with his yamis, since he thinks of himself as the "real" one. Usually there's only one "extra", so that makes it two.

Longer parts in italics and ended with - are dreams.

* * *

Second Move: Dreams Aren't All They're Cracked Up to be 

_Sand blasted cruelly against his face, keeping him from seeing anything as he had to screw his eyes shut tight. The wind whipped all around him, sending the coarse grains skittering against bare arms and inside his clothes, rubbing uncomfortably between skin and cloth. _

_The sand was all there was, howling, screaming, tearing, jerking, never leaving him alone. He couldn't breathe either, each short gasped mouthful of air filling his mouth with sand, making him spit and hack, and thus swallow even more of the soil. _

_He was starting to panic, fighting against wind and sand to get out of the vicinity of the storm, anything so he would be able to breathe and see again, and then everything stopped._

_The silence was deafening after the muffled roar of sand-filled wind. _

_Cautiously opening his eyes, Ryou glanced around from under his lashes and bowed head. _

_Nothing._

_A sweeping plain of unbroken, flat desert of black sand. Not even the usual undulation of dunes broke the horizon. No wind either, now that the sandstorm had gone. _

_The sky was bloody red, the sun bleeding light from an intensely bright eye that seemed to follow his every move. Ryou brought up shaking arms to hug himself, not cold, but goose bumps forming anyway. This place... so desolate. No life, no breath, no movement. Where was he? _

_Since no answer was forthcoming from his surroundings, Ryou decided he should move, and hopefully something would appear. Not that he had any hopes, but... He was so alone. It was so silent, he could swear he could hear his thoughts rattle around in his head. Neither Kura, nor Ba-khu-ra was here, and now he missed them sorely, even with the "homicidal maniac, beware!" vibe they both sent out. _

_At least he'd have someone to talk to... and he'd feel safer. They may not be the world's nicest people, but at least now, if not before, they wanted what was best for him. And even if his ideas of what was "best for him" might be different from theirs, it would have been very comforting to have the two of them on either side of him in this desolate place. _

_The ground under him started to vibrate suddenly, the sand skittering around, but no sound could be heard. Suddenly, there was a drawn-out howl, broken glass on tears and blood, screeching all around him, the scream at once human and so very animalistic. _

_Then the sun started to cry blood, the first drop landing innocently enough on his cheek, trailing down the pale skin like a macabre tear, and then another and another, and on and on, and at the same time Ryou could hear sobbing, screams of pain and terror, metal-on-metal in his ears, making them bleed too, and everything was bleeding, oh kami-sama, he couldn't see anything for the blood and then he was crying, but his tears mixed with the blood and then he was crying blood too and it was all red, and he couldn't see, couldn't move, couldn't hear, the pain, the fear, the blood the screams all rooting him in place, making him a part of the-_

"RYOU! Wake UP!"

With a jerk, Ryou's blue eyes snapped open, a shuddering gasp caught in his throat as he tore himself from whoever was holding him, pressing his back against the headboard of his bed, arms over his head, knees up against his chest, whimpering.

There was a startled stillness for a second or so, then the bed dipped on each side, and he was enveloped in the scent of incense, something metallic his mind right now shied away from, and coconut. How strange that they both smelled the same...

"Ryou? What happened? You were whimpering and crying, we couldn't wake you up at first, and you were cold." Bakura seemed to want to snap at Ryou, but kept his voice low and soothing, as if he was talking to a jittery animal.

"That's funny... I was warm..." Ryou mumbled distractedly, before a loud crack echoed in the room, and wide blue eyes stared at the dark-skinned man to his left, one pale hand pressed against a livid red cheek.

"Wh-what was _that_ for!" Ryou stuttered angrily and Ba-khu-ra shrugged.

"You weren't snapping out of it."

The teen nodded, took a deep, unstable breath and closed his eyes. He wanted to throw himself against one, or both of them, immerse himself in their scent. He wanted a hug. But, knowing his yamis, that wasn't even on the menu.

"I... I'm fine now... It's okay." Opening his eyes, he smiled, slightly wobbly, at the two staring spirits. They didn't believe him, but was thankfully not pressing him. Yet.

* * *

One week. 

One thrice-cursed whole _week_ of the same dream, with only slight variations. It shook him up every time. Not as bad as the first time, but each dream seemed as fresh as the first one, crystal clear and razor sharp.

Pouring coffee in the mug with shaking fingers, Ryou wondered how much more of this he could take. His yamis had badgered the truth of the dreams out of him after the third one, and had even tried to influence his dreams with Shadow magic, but so far, no cigar.

It seemed his dreams were resisting even their combined efforts, and somehow keeping them out. That was what had clued them in to something not being right, but since they couldn't do anything to help, Ryou had to suffer through these dreams each night, waking up with his sheets tangled around his legs, the comforter kicked down to the foot of the bed, and his skin drenched in cold sweat.

It was better when either one or both of his yamis were in the bed with him.

Leaning back against the counter as he had done that morning over a week ago when he first saw his yami(s) again, Ryou sighed tiredly, rubbing his face with one hand.

"You look like shit." Frankly stated with a sharp edge of a sneer, and under it all, much toned down, concern.

"Thanks 'Kura, really. Your concern overwhelms me." Ryou said dryly, taking a sip from the black coffee that was still almost scalding hot. Oh, well, it would help him wake up at any rate.

Foggy blue eyes narrowed as Bakura stalked up to Ryou, grabbing his chin and ignoring the yelp of protest as he peered at his face. Ba-khu-ra came shuffling into the kitchen, never much of a morning person, and only raised a questioning eyebrow at the spectacle.

"Bags under his eyes." Bakura snorted in disgust, letting go of Ryou's chin as if he was bearing the plague or something, but the white-haired young man knew it was only because Bakura wasn't very good with feelings other than anger and anything related to that.

"And what's this about "'Kura"? The paler of the two spirits muttered, glaring at the tomb robber as he snickered. Ryou smiled angelically and shrugged.

"It's easier, is all. Easier to keep your names apart..." Trailing off, Ryou looked a little uncertainly at Bakura from the corner of one eye. When the pale spirit only snorted and looked away, Ryou knew it was alright. Turning around to refill his mug, he missed Ba-khu-ra's soundless mouthing of "whipped", but heard the thief's resultant growl.

"I hope you two can keep yourselves out of trouble today. I'm going over to meet with Yuugi-tachi. We're going to the beach." He didn't offer to take his two yamis with him, since he did _not_ need that particular problem on the other, and he'd rather keep Yuugi in the dark as long as possible, since he was the one most likely to notice, simply due to that he had worn an Item too.

"Sure, sure. Go play _miew-sher_. We'll play nice too." Ba-khu-ra grinned and Ryou sighed but couldn't help his smile.

"And why do I highly doubt that?"

* * *

Sunlight poured down on all and sundry, tanning or reddening skin and bouncing off water, creating glittering jewels of light and illusion to be caught by eager child-hands. 

Ryou smiled, feeling more relaxed then he'd done this whole week as he took a deep breath of air, filling his lungs with salt and that particular smell only large bodies of water have.

"Oi, Ryou! How long will you stand there? Come on!" Jounouchi's shout over the general din of the beach shook the teen out of his reverie and he laughed and jogged down the little hill before the beach that he was standing on.

"I'm coming! I was just enjoying it all!"

Weaving between families on quilts, kissing teenagers and children making sandcastles, Ryou finally came up to the spot that his friends had claimed for their own, Yuugi and Anzu wrestling with a parasol while Honda had planted himself one the quilt he and Jounouchi had spread out.

Having finally gotten the resisting parasol up, Anzu grinned and dragged Yuugi with her down to the shore and with a yell ran out into the water, splashing it everywhere. Ryou smiled and plopped down in the shade provided by the parasol, since even with sun-block he tended to burn easily.

Cold drops of water suddenly sprayed him and Ryou yelped, then blushed in embarrassment and looked up into the amused face of Anzu.

"Come on Ryou, you can't stay under the shade the whole day! What's the reason for going to the beach otherwise?" She said laughingly, poking him in the shin with a cold and sand encrusted foot. Smiling, he shook his head, white strands sliding over pale shoulders.

"Okay. I'll go. So bossy, Anzu!" Marking the page he was on, Ryou laid the book down in his backpack and raced Anzu down to the surf, throwing himself in without hesitation.

Okay, that was a lie.

He mentally hesitated to throw himself headfirst into cold ocean water, but hesitating never made the water warmer, so he always plunged in without stopping. The water splashing up around him and over his stomach made him gasp, and he had to repress the squeal. Because that? Too embarrassing.

They passed a beach-ball between them, trying to keep standing in the waves and not let the ball touch the water, which was near impossible, but fun.

It wasn't until Ryou threw himself to the side to catch the ball teasingly just out of his reach and a wave crashed over him, submerging him suddenly in cool, frothy water as things turned unpleasant.

_Cold, clinging, dragging him down, but he couldn't swim to the surface, because then they would find him, and kill him and he had to live, to kill those responsible! _

_Fighting to reach the opposite shore he remembered the blood spreading over sand, metal glinting in firelight and moonlight, and the screams and tears. _

_And suddenly the water was blood, dragging him down to join the half-eaten bodies on the bottom who reached out with sticky, slimy hands and fingers to keep him down, to never let him up, and he opened his mouth to scream and the blood filled it, choked the scream and life out of him and he'd die down here-_

"RYOU!"

Gentle slaps on his cheeks, jerk, gasp, turn around to cough out the water he'd swallowed, Ryou hiccupped and felt water on his cheeks, but it wasn't from the sea, just his tears.

There had been a glimpse of something different this time… A face half covered by a mask, and a bloody scar on the unmasked side of the face, filling the eye it ran over with blood, white hair dipped in bloody red and whispered words. Words he couldn't remember now.

Who had that been?

What was this?

What was going on?

And he just didn't know. Where was his yamis when he needed them? The tears and shaking just didn't want to stop.

* * *

_Miew-sher_- ancient Egyptian for kitten 

How depressing…but it will get better! Later... Heheh. And this took an entirely different turn than I normally had planned for the fic. It was supposed to be light-hearted and domestic at first, and now it's turned out to regular mystery and drama with a large dose of fluff and sweetness in between. Not that there's much of it in this chappie… and when Ryou needed it too. Oh, well. Or something like that. What are the meanings of the dreams? Who is the masked man? What does he want? All will be answered in time!


End file.
